Transportation systems

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to improvements in transportation systems and in particular passenger transportation systems of the kind in which the payload carrier is borne by a conveyor arrangement, the improvements comprising means for automatically or manually engaging said payload carriers with, and disengaging them from, the conveyor means by the use of ground-effect arrangements in association with special track formations.

United States Patent Inventor Appl. No Filed Patented Assignee Priority Francois Louis Giraud Plaisir, France April 4. 1969 May 25, 1971 Societe De L Aerotrains Paris, France Apr. 5, 1968 France TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS 17 Claims, 10 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 104/165,

104/155, 104/23FS, 104/134, 198/185 Int. Cl B61b 13/08 Field of Search 104/23 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,918,183 12/1959 Petersen... .4 104/23FS 3,242,876 3/1966 Berggren H 104/134 3,302,587 2/1967 Knox l04/23FS 3,347,170 10/1967 Bertin 104/23FS Primary Examiner-Arthur L. La Point Assistant Examiner- SGD. D. W. KEEN AttorneyStevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher ABSTRACT: The present invention relates to improvements in transportation systems and in particular passenger transportation systems of the kind in which the payload carrier is borne by a conveyor arrangement, the improvements comprising means for automatically or manually engaging said payload carriers with, and disengaging them from, the conveyor means by the use of ground-effect arrangements in association with special track formations.

PATENTEU W25 l97| SHEET 1 BF 4 TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS The present invention relates to transportation systems, and in particular to passenger transportation systems, of the type comprising at least one mechanical conveyor, for example a belt conveyor, with which there is associated at least one movable body or like vehicle, e.g., a cabin driven by said conveyor.

These systems, in which movable bodies or cabins can follow one another at very short intervals, make it possible to achieve a substantial traffic flow. Nevertheless, they exhibit a certain number of drawbacks, the main one of which is a lack of flexibility due to the difflculty of extracting a movable body or vehicle from the moving conveyor which carries it (this extraction being necessary in order for it to be possible to direct the movable body or vehicle, without disturbing the main traffic flow, to a marshalling or parking area, selected, for example, by a passenger) and thereafter to return it to the conveyor. Equally, it is well known that it is difficult to make the movable body vehicle follow a curved or broken trajectory, because, fundamentally, the conveyor is a rectilinear device.

These drawbacks are overcome in the improved transportation system hereinafter to be described, thanks to a combination of arrangements which constitute the subject of the present invention. In accordance with the invention, the movable body carries plenum-chamber-bou'nding means having a free end adjacent a bearing surface of aprepared track means and designed to bound a pressure fluid cushion formed against said surface; and controllable means are provided to supply said plenum chamber with pressure fluid, whereby the movable body is lifted by said fluid cushion and is disengaged from the mechanical conveyor, when said controllable means are operative.

The rendering operative of a cushion of this kind, as those skilled in the art will appreciate, enables the movable body or vehicle to be lifted so that it ceases to rest directly on the conveyor and it can therefore be disengaged from the latter laterally by means which will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment, means are provided in order to supply pressure fluid from the prepared track to the plenum chamber which bounds the fluid cushion. These means may comprise a plurality of transfer means or passages formed across the track and opening into the plenum chamber, said passages advantageously developing from at least one space or enclosure contiguous with the track and communicating with a source of pressure fluid.

Means such as valves may be provided in order to obturate said passages when said fluid cushion is not required.

In accordance with another feature of the invention, the opening of certain ones, at least, of said obturating means may be controlled through a device carried by the vehicle. This device may be set to a predetermined position corresponding to a preselected point in the journey, at which point the mova ble body or vehicle is to be disengaged. it can also be moved between an operative and an inoperative position and is thus at the disposal of a passenger wishing to direct the vehicle or cabin which he is occupying, to a predetermined parking or marshalling area. This kind of device can advantageously comprise a control element which, in the operative position, cooperates with a complementary element forming part of a linkage carried by the prepared track and actuating said obturating means.

Other obturating means, on the other hand, may be automatically controlled as a function of the progress of the vehicle, for example by a proximity effect and in particular under the effect of the superatmospheric pressure prevailing in a previously developed fluid cushion.

In accordance with one feature of the invention, certainones at least of the supply passages are directed substantially normally to the bearing surface of the track whilst others may be directed aslant in relation to said surface in order to do duty as directional nozzles.

It is, therefore, possible to superimpose upon the lift effect produced by the fluid cushion (which effect, as we have seen, enables the movable body or 'vehicle to be disengaged from the conveyor carrying it), an effect of propulsion in a given direction, for example a lateral direction, this being determined by the nozzles hereinbefore referred to, and to thus obtain in a particularly simple manner the lateral disengagement of the movable body or vehicle from the conveyor towards a parking or marshalling area, or to make said body negotiate a transition zone or curve separating two conveyors running in arbitrary directions.

This maneuver can also be facilitated by using ramps in order to exploit the gravitational effect.

To this end, in accordance with another feature of the invention, the prepared track has an inclined transverse profile extending part of the length of said track, the inclination being either a permanent one or, on the other hand, temporary, in

which latter case it will be produced after the fluid cushion has been developed.

In accordance with another embodiment which is applicable to this case, the prepared track comprises at least one wall or plate through which obturable passages extend, said plate being hingedly mounted at one of its edges in order to pivot about an axis substantially parallel the general direction of the track and, in cooperation with a system of deformable lateral walls, bounding a variable-volume enclosure supplied with pressurized fluid, said plate moving from a substantially horizontal position to an inclined one depending upon whether the supply passages to the cushion are obturated or not.

The invention is just as applicable to the case where the conveyor is situatedin toto above the movable body or vehicle, the latter then being suspended from the conveyor through the medium of an appropriate suspension arrangement, as to the case where the reverse arrangement is used, the vehicle then resting upon the conveyor, for example, through the medium ofa system of runners.

In accordance with an advantageous arrangement applicable to return case of a suspended vehicle, the suspension device comprises an arm the lower part of which is fixed to the movable body or vehicle and the upper part of which, overhanging the conveyor, carries a supporting element pivotally secured to the arm and able to bear on the conveyor against the action of an elastic return arrangement assembled between the arm and an extension on said supporting element.

This arrangement makes it possible to achieve immediate lateral disengagement of the suspension device as soon as the action of the elastic return device predominates, following the development of the lift cushion.

In accordance with another arrangement, applicable to the case of a vehicle situated in toto above the conveyor, the conveyor comprises two parallel elementary conveyors carried by the prepared track, between which there extends the bearing surface of the track.

The fluid cushion is confined at its periphery in the conventional way, by a system of lateral walls or skirts, preferably of flexible design. In accordance with one feature of the invention, means are provided in order to retract the free edges of said walls from the bearing surface of the track, when the cushion is not operative, said means preferably sensing the position of the movable body or vehicle in relation to the bearing surface of the track,,the arrangement being designed to prevent any premature wear in said walls.

The description which now follows in relation to the attached drawings, given by .way of nonlimitative example, will indicate how the invention may be put into effect.

FlG. l is a schematic elevational view, partially in section, of an improved transportation system in accordance with the invention; said system comprising conveyors, for example belt-type conveyors, associated with vehicles or cabins arranged below the conveyor and suspended therefrom;

FIGSVZ, 3 and 4 are sectional views on a larger scale, taken respectively on the lines ll-ll, Ill-ill and IV-lV of FIG. 1, of the transportation system shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. and 6 are side elevations, on a larger scale, of a detail of a vehicle suspension device in two different positions;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of a transportation system similar to that shown in FIG. 1 but in which the vehicles or cabins carried by the conveyor are located above it;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are sectional view, on a larger scale, taken on the lines VIII-VIII and IX-IX respectively of FIG. 7, through the transportation system shown in that figure;

FIG. is a schematic plan view of a curve zone or transition zone between two conveyors aligned in different directions.

In FIGS. 1 to 6, the references C designate successive conveyors, of belt type in the example illustrated, carried by pylons P spaced at appropriate intervals. Each of said conveyors comprises an endless belt I driven by a shaft 2 rotated by a motor 3, for example, an electric motor. One run la of this belt rests upon rollers 4 fixed to profiled sections 5 carried on the pylons.

On the runs la of the successive endless belts, there can rest movable bodies or vehicles, such as cabins M designed for example to transport passengers, and projecting below the general level of the conveyors C. Each of the vehicles M is equipped with a suspension device comprising a curved arm 6 fixed at its bottom part to the vehicle M and resting at its top end on the run. la of the belt, carrying at that point a supporting element 7 which is pivotally attached to it.

As FIGS. 5 and 6 illustrate in more detail, the supporting element 7 is articulated about a pivot 8 substantially parallel to the belt, and carries an extension 9 in which a seating 10 is formed in order to house one of the ends of an elastic return device such as a compression spring 11, whose other end locates in a similar seating 12 formed in the arm 6. A flat l3, delimited by two flanges I4, 15, constitutes the active part of the supporting element. In the position shown in FIG. 5, the vehicle M is suspended from the conveyor, the flat l3 resting upon the free run Ia of the belt. The action of the weight of the vehicle M overcomes the spring Ill and compresses it. In the position shown in FIG. 6, the vehicle M is not suspended from the conveyor so that the expansion of the spring ll causes the flat 13 to assume an inclined attitude.

It will be observed that the supporting element 7 is designed so that it is substantially on the vertical axis passing through the center of gravity of the vehicle.

The vehicle M carries a plenum camber having a bottom 16 and lateral walls or skirting arrangements 17. Said plenum chamber is adapted to cooperate with the bearing surface 180 ofa prepared track 18 in order to bond therewith a cushion of pressurized fluid. As FIG. 1 shows, the track 18 is designed so that its bearing surface 180 is at a higher level than the surface 19 of the ground above which the vehicles operate outside the prepared zones.

As FIGS. 2 and 3 show, the'walls 17 are retractable, their free edges 17a remaining spaced away from the bearing surface l8a ofthe track 18, outside the periods of operation of the fluid cushion, thus preventing any premature wear on the part of these walls. In order to control the change in position of the walls 17, any appropriate device, automatic or otherwise, can be used, and, in particular, a device sensitive to the position of the vehicle in relation to the surface 18a.

Supply of fluid to the cushion can be effected in any appropriate manner, for example from a fluid reserve carried by the vehicle. However, in accordance with a preferred embodiment, this supply will be effected via the track. As indicated in FIG. 3, the track 18 comprises a series of transfer means or passages 20 disposed substantially normally to the bearing surface 18a of the track, said passages extending from a space or enclosure 21 located beneath the track and capable of being supplied with pressurized fluid, preferably air, through a pipclack valves are carried by a linkage 25 hingedly secured at a point 26 to the structure of the track 19 and subjected to the action of a spring 27 which tends to keep said valves in their closed position. An arm 28, fixed to the linkage 25, bears against a deformable and sealed plate 29, projecting above the level of the bearing surface 18a of the track. A lever 30, operated from the vehicle or cabin, makes it possible at the desired instant, to operate the linkage 25 and to trigger the development beneath the vehicle ofa cushion of fluid.

As FIGS. 1 to 4 illustrate, the prepared track, over part ofits length, has an inclined transverse profile. It will be observed, on the other hand, that certain of the pressurized fluid supply passages may take the form of directional nozzles 31 inclined in relation to the bearing surface of the track for example laterally. Thus, it is possible to superimpose upon the ground effect exerted on the vehicle, an effect of propulsion in the direction indicated by the arrow F in FIG. 4, this effect being aided, in the particular case illustrated, by the transverse inclination of the track. Additionally, there has been schematically indicated at 32 in FIG. 4 a device for obturating the passages 31, which opens automatically as the vehicle progresses. Controlling of the obturation of the passages 31 can be effected, for example, by a proximity effect, in particular under the action of the superatmospheric pressure prevailing in the fluid cushion.

The system operates as follows:

Let us assume that the vehicle or cabin, which it is desired to disengage from the moving conveyor, is approaching a station comprising, as indicated in FIG. 1, a prepared track 18. If the user of the cabin desires to stop, he operates the lever 30 so that at the desired instant it comes into contact with the projecting plate 29. The arm 28, fixed to the linkage 25, moves down against the action of the spring 27 so that the clack valves 24 cease to close off the passages 20. A cushion of pressurized fluid thus develops and lifts the vehicle M. The suspension device 6, 7 then releases from the conveyor, aided by the action of the return spring 11 (FIG. 6) which enables the flange 14 to disengage rotation of the supporting element 7 about the axis 8. Whilst continuing, by virtue of the velocity it has developed, to move substantially parallel to the conveyor, the vehicle gradually moves away from it to finally arrive in the transverse-inclined zone shown particularly clearly in FIG. 4. Under the effect of gravity and also under the effect of the directional nozzles 31 with their propulsive effect, the vehicle then clears the track completely in a direction transverse to its original line of movement. It is then directed to a parking or marshalling area where the user leaves it. In a variant embodiment, the lever 30 may also be set to a predetermined position corresponding to a predetermined disengagement location along the track.

The return of a vehicle to the conveyor can be carried out using the reverse procedure. The vehicle is lifted and guided along a track or zone supplied with pressurized fluid, until the suspension device 6, 7 reengages the conveyor with the flange l5 and then the flat 13. As soon as the fluid cushion lifting the vehicle ceases to operate, the weight of the vehicle gains the upper hand so that the flat returns to its operative position as shown in FIG. 5. The vehicle is then reconnected with the conveyor which transports it to another station.

The transportation system described in FIGS. 7, 8, 9 differs from that described hereinbefore substantially by virtue of the fact that the vehicle M is situated at a higher level than the conveyor 7. The conveyor in this case comprises two elementary conveyors, for example two parallel endless belts 41, each having a top, working run 41a upon which the vehicle rests through the medium of runners 42. The two belts are driven by a-drive shaft 43 and rest on rollers or the like 44 contained in recesses 45 formed in a plate 45 which covers an enclosure 47 communicating through pipe arrangements 48 with a fluid pressure source (not shown). The reference 49 indicates a device for obturating the pipe 48.

The plate 46 contains feed passages constituted by directional nozzles 50 capable of being closed off by the clack valves 51, which are similar to those 24 described in relation to FIG. 3, and carried, like the latter, by a linkage 42 articulated at 53 to the plate 45 and spring-loaded by a spring 54. An arm 55, projecting in sealed fashion outside the enclosure 47, terminates in an element 56 which is designed to cooperate with a lever 57 operated by the user of the vehicle or cabin.

The enclosure 47 is peripherally defined by a deformable wall 58 fixed in sealed fashion to the plate 46. The latter can be constituted by a series of contiguous elementary panels connected together in sealed and articulating fashion, for example by means of flexible diaphragms, the successive joint zones being schematically indicated in FIG. 7 by chain-dotted lines 59. The plate 46 is hingedly mounted at 60 about a substantially longitudinal fixed axis. The reference 61 marks a stop.

The vehicle M is equipped with an enclosure of the plenum chamber kind bounded by a bottom 62 and by a system of preferably retractable lateral walls or skirts 63.

The deviceoperates as follows:

The vehicle or cabin M is carried on the runners 42 by the moving belts 41. 1f the user ofthe cabin desires to stop at a station, as shown in the central part of FIG. 7, he maneuvers the lever 57 which cooperates with the arm 55 in order to produce the opening of the clack valves 51, the latter hitherto having been kept closed by the action of the spring 54 upon the linkage 52. The pressurized fluid, stored in the enclosure 47, escapes through the directional nozzles 50 and creates a pressurized fluid cushion beneath the vehicle, which thus lifts away from the belts 41.

Accordingly, the pressure prevailing in the enclosure 47 drops to a lower value, causing the plate 46 to retract, swing? ing about its hinge 60 back into contact with the stop 61. The cabin M can then glide over this plate, aided in the maneuver by the effect of the directional nozzles 50, in order to finally arrive on a prepared area 64. The latter can advantageously be supplied automatically with pressurized fluid by the passage of the cabin and be arranged to direct same, in the manner hereinbefore described, to a parking or marshalling area.

FIG. is a schematic plan view of a curve or transitional zone between two conveyors C,, C arranged in different directions, said conveyors being, for example, of the kind described in relation to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9. The vehicle carried by the belts 41, arrives in a zone 65 supplied, as before, with pressurized fluid across passages or nozzles 66 automatically controlled by the arrival and passage of the vehicle. The latter, lifted by ground effect, can then follow its path in the direction to the next conveyor. Lateral walls 67 provide a guiding function. These walls may in particular be constituted by endless belts in a verticalarrangement in order to ensure that the vehicle is propelled through the curve or transition zone.

Lateral walls of this kind can likewise be used to effect the positioning of a vehicle which has been previously moved along an area supplied with pressurized fluid, this in accordance with a procedure which is the reverse of that just described in relation to FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 and in the immediate proximity of a conveyor, in order to return said vehicle to said conveyor.

I claim:

1. A transportation system comprising:

mechanical conveyor means having a longitudinally extending and movable load-bearing strip,

prepared track means having a load-bearing surface extending alongside said load-hearing strip,

a movable body having two portions spaced from each other, a first portion being positioned adjacent said loadbearing strip and a second portion being positioned ad-. jacent said load-bearing surface, said first portion normally resting on said load-bearing strip whereby said body engages the same and is driven by said conveyor means, while said second portion moves clear of and opposite to said load-bearing surface, and

controllable ground-effect-producing means for selectively interrelating fluidically said second body portion and said load-bearing surface to lift said first body portion of said load-bearing strip whereby said body is disengaged from said conveyor means.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controllable means comprise a source of pressure fluid; fluid transfer means ending by discharge orifices carried by said track means, said transfer means being connected to said source; means to controllably obturate said transfer means; and control means for said obturating means.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said control means comprise a lever carried by said movable body and a linkage carried by the prepared track means, said linkage being designed to cooperate with said lever.

4. A system as claimedin claim 2, wherein said control means comprise cushion pressure-sensing means causing said controllable obturating means to open said transfer means with the progressive movement of the body over the prepared track means.

5. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the discharge orifices of at least a part of the fluid-transfer means are directed substantially normally to said bearing surface of the prepared track means.

6. A system claimed in claim 2, wherein the discharge orifices of at leasta part of the fluid-transfer means are directed aslant in relation to said bearing surface of the prepared track means.

7. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the prepared track means has an inclined transverse profile extending part of the length of said track means.

8. A system as claimed in claim 7, further comprising means for varying the inclination of said transverse profile.

9. A system. as claimed in claim 8, wherein the prepared track means comprises a series of contiguous elementary sections connected togetherin sealed and articulated fashion.

10. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the prepared track means comprise an enclosure bounded by least a first wall carrying said bearing surface, a second wall spaced from said first wall, and lateral wall means linking together said first wall and said second wall; said first wall being hingedly secured at one of its edges about an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the track means; a source of pressure fluid communicating with said enclosure; fluid transfer means extending through said first wall and ending by discharge orificeson the bearing surface of the track means; means to controllablyobturate said fluid transfer means; and control means forsaid obturating means, whereby said first wall assumes two different angular positions depending upon whether said transfer. means are closed or open.

11. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movable body is situated below the conveyor means, said system-comprising a device for suspending said body from the conveyor means.

12. A system a claimed in claim 11, in which the suspension device comprises an arm the bottom part of which is secured to the movable body and the top part of which overhangs the conveyor means; and a supporting element carried by the top part of the arm and designed to rest on the conveyor means.

13. A system as claimed in claim 12, further comprising elastic return means extending between said arm and said supporting element.

14. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movable body is situated above the conveyor means, said system further comprising runners though which the body rests upon the conveyor means.

15. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the conveyor means comprises two parallel conveyors carried bythe prepared track means; and wherein the bearing surface of said track means extends between said two conveyors.

16. A system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising wall means for laterally confining a fluid interrelating space, and means for retracting the free edge of said wall means from the prepared track means having a bearing surface; said movable body-carrying plenum-chamber-bounding means having a free end adjacent said bearing surface and designed to bound a pressure fluid cushion formed against said surface; and controllable means to supply said plenum chamber with pressure fluid, whereby the movable body is lifted by said fluid cushion in the said angular transitional zone. 

1. A transportation system comprising: mechanical conveyor means having a longitudinally extending and movable load-bearing strip, prepared track means having a load-bearing surface extending alongside said load-bearing strip, a movable body having two portions spaced from each other, a first portion being positioned adjacent said load-bearing strip and a second portion being positioned adjacent said loadbearing surface, said first portion normally resting on said load-bearing strip whereby said body engages the same and is driven by said conveyor means, while said second portion moves clear of and opposite to said load-bearing surface, and controllable ground-effect-producing means for selectively interrelating fluidically said second body portion and said load-bearing surface to lift said first body portion of said load-bearing strip whereby said body is disengaged from said conveyor means.
 2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said controllable means comprise a source of pressure fluid; fluid transfer means ending by discharge orifices carried by said track means, said transfer means being connected to said source; means to controllably obturate said transfer means; and control means for said obturating means.
 3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said control means comprise a lever carried by said movable body and a linkage carried by the prepared track means, said linkage being designed to cooperate with said lever.
 4. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said control means comprise cushion pressure-sensing means causing said controllable obturating means to open said transfer means with the progressive movement of the body over the prepared track means.
 5. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the discharge orifices of at least a part of the fluid-transfer means are directed substantially normally to said bearing surface of the prepared track means.
 6. A system claimed in claim 2, wherein the discharge orifices of at least a part of the fluid-transfer means are directed aslant in relation to said bearing surface of the prepared track means.
 7. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the prepared track means has an inclined transverse profile extending part of the length of said track means.
 8. A system as claimed in claim 7, further comprising means for varying the inclination of said transverse profile.
 9. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the prepared track means comprises a series of contiguous elementary sections conneCted together in sealed and articulated fashion.
 10. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the prepared track means comprise an enclosure bounded by least a first wall carrying said bearing surface, a second wall spaced from said first wall, and lateral wall means linking together said first wall and said second wall; said first wall being hingedly secured at one of its edges about an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the track means; a source of pressure fluid communicating with said enclosure; fluid transfer means extending through said first wall and ending by discharge orifices on the bearing surface of the track means; means to controllably obturate said fluid transfer means; and control means for said obturating means, whereby said first wall assumes two different angular positions depending upon whether said transfer means are closed or open.
 11. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movable body is situated below the conveyor means, said system comprising a device for suspending said body from the conveyor means.
 12. A system a claimed in claim 11, in which the suspension device comprises an arm the bottom part of which is secured to the movable body and the top part of which overhangs the conveyor means; and a supporting element carried by the top part of the arm and designed to rest on the conveyor means.
 13. A system as claimed in claim 12, further comprising elastic return means extending between said arm and said supporting element.
 14. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movable body is situated above the conveyor means, said system further comprising runners though which the body rests upon the conveyor means.
 15. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the conveyor means comprises two parallel conveyors carried by the prepared track means; and wherein the bearing surface of said track means extends between said two conveyors.
 16. A system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising wall means for laterally confining a fluid interrelating space, and means for retracting the free edge of said wall means from the bearing surface of the track means, outside the periods of operation of the fluid space.
 17. A transportation system comprising at least a first and a second mechanical conveyor means located in succession and at an angle to one another, separated from one another by an angular transitional zone; a movable body or like vehicle driven successively by the first and the second conveyor means; prepared track means occupying the angular transitional zone defined between said two conveyor means, said prepared track means having a bearing surface; said movable body-carrying plenum-chamber-bounding means having a free end adjacent said bearing surface and designed to bound a pressure fluid cushion formed against said surface; and controllable means to supply said plenum chamber with pressure fluid, whereby the movable body is lifted by said fluid cushion in the said angular transitional zone. 